


Friend Meet Friend

by okay_klepto



Series: The Many Adventures of Shiro and Keith [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: First Meetings, M/M, Not really..., Pining Shiro?, idk - Freeform, lance and keith are best friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-13 19:55:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10520736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/okay_klepto/pseuds/okay_klepto
Summary: Lance introduces the gang to his best friend and new room mate.  Everyone is happy to meet him, especially Shiro.





	

   “Does everything feel okay?  It’s holding the weight well.”

   Shiro set the bar back down on the rack.  “Yeah,” he flexed his mechanical fingers.  “Feels fine.  It doesn’t feel weak or anything.”

   “Good.”  Hunk did a brief final examination before standing up off the floor.  “Pidge did a great job.”

   “She really did.”  Shiro stood up off the bench and rolled his shoulders.  “It was a good workout today, too.”

   “It was.  Switching some of the exercises seemed to have helped a lot.”  Hunk flipped through a small notebook.  “And you’re making some great gains.”

   “So are you, Mr. What-Are-You-Talking-About-I-Can-Deadlift-310-Pound-No-Problem.”

   Hunk laughed.  “Sorry I lift.”

   “Hey guys!”  They both looked up and saw Lance and Pidge making their way through the sets of weight machines.

   “How was…” Hunk thought for a moment.  “Yoga class?”

   “Advanced yoga,” Pidge corrected.  “It was fine.  Lance almost fell.”

   “Because you tried to push me over!  I was doing fine!”

   They laughed.  “How’s the arm?”  Pidge asked.

   “It’s holding up really well,”  Hunk answered.  “No reports of discomfort or weakness.  Everything seems to be in working order.”

   “Great, I’m happy those modifications are working out.  Do you have a little more feeling now?  I wasn’t sure how sensitive those new receptors are.”

   “I think so,” Shiro said, flexing his fingers again.  “It’s hard to tell though.”

   “Well as long as it’s not hurting you.”

   “Do you guys wanna get something to eat?  I’m starving.”  Lance held his stomach.

   “You’re always hungry.”  Pidge said as she reached into her bag.  “But I might have some froyo coupons in here somewhere.”

   “Froyo!”  Shiro smiled.

   Lance looked up into the huge mirror that covered the back wall of the weight room.  He saw only a few people still working out, but that was pretty usual for this time of day.  Then someone particular caught his eye.

   “Keith!”  Lance looked to the rest of the group.  “You guys can meet him!  Keith!”

   Lance turned to face the opposite side of the gym.  Pidge, Hunk and Shiro watched him jog up to a rather unsuspecting young man who was getting ready to leave the gym.

   “Who?”  Hunk asked.

   “His friend Keith,” Pidge said.  “His new roommate.  You don’t remember him going on about how we need to meet him?  Apparently they haven't seen each other in person since high school.”

   The three of them watched Lance talk to this black haired boy, who looked very confused with what Lance saying.  He glanced over to Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro then opened his mouth, perhaps in protest, but Lance grabbed him by the wrist and started to drag him to the group.

   Lance walked back over with this Keith in tow.  “This is Keith!  You remember me talking about him?  I haven’t seen him for years!”

   Keith shyly raised his hand.  “Hey.”

   “He got a new job here and moved in with me.”  Lance smiled wider.  “I have been dying to introduce all of you.  This is Shiro, he works as a nurse at the same hospital I do.  That’s Hunk, we’ve known each other I think since college, and you’ve already met Pidge.”

   Pidge smiled and nodded, Hunk politely said hello and Shiro managed to stammer out a greeting.

   “You good, Shiro?”  Lance asked.

   “Yeah, just a little, uh… tired.”

   “Okay…”

   “So what do you do for work?”  Hunk asked, genuinely interested in the answer.

   “I’m a chemical engineer.”  Keith tugged at the hem of his shirt.

   “Whoa!”  Hunk smiled.  “I’m in mechanical.”

   “Really?”  Keith smiled too, feeling like he had something to connect with.  “I was going to go into mechanical but I wasn’t good at visualizing stuff.  I was better with working on a small scale.”

   “Yeah?  What are you working on now?”

   “I might be getting put in with a team that’s working on a project to help recycle waste chemicals, but I’ve been dabbling in some stuff with altering plant DNA to potentially help with that, but I’m still getting a final assignment.”

   “That’s actually really cool.  You don’t just mixed chemicals to make explosions.”

   Keith laughed.  “Not my department.”

   They chatted for a few more minutes before Keith looked to Lance.  “I have a meeting with my supervisor, I should probably get going.”

   “So soon?”

   “I don’t want to be late.  It was really nice meeting you, Hunk, Shiro.”

   Shiro’s ears perked up.  “Y-you too.”

   Lance’s eyes widened.  “Why don’t you guys come over tonight and we can hang out so you can meet Keith?  It’ll be fun.”

   It was a unanimous yes.

   “Well I guess I’ll see you guys tonight.”  Keith smiled halfheartedly

   They said their goodbyes as they watched Keith walk out of the gym.

   “He seems really nice,” Hunk said as he gathered his belongings.  “Smart, too.  Chemical engineering, who would have thought?”

   “He’s really smart,” Lance said.  “Only he doesn’t have anyone to talk to about it.  All of his friends went into either art stuff or business.  He almost did business.  He tried to tell me about work, but that stuff he says usually goes right over my head.”

   “Yeah?”

   “Yeah.”  Lance turned to Shiro.  “Are you okay?  You seem a little… out of it?”

   “What?”  Shiro looked to Lance.  “Yeah, yeah, I’m good.”

   “If you say so…”

><><><

   Shiro sat at home.  It was quiet, the noises from outside were just loud enough to be heard faintly through the walls.  Sometimes a sound from the apartment above would come through, but that was rare.  It was too early to have something for dinner, and he would probably have something to eat at Lance’s anyways.  What to do?  Normally Shiro would be working but some shifts got moved around and he was available tonight.  Maybe he should clean… or do his taxes.

   As Shiro kept himself busy, his mind kept wandering back to earlier that day.  His workout was great, then he met Lance’s friend.  Keith.  He seemed nice.  But Shiro felt something else when he saw him.  Why did stuff seem to not make sense?  Why did he suddenly forget how to function properly?  Keith looked normal, though his hair was rather shiny, and soft looking… and his skin was clear and smooth.  Maybe it was the fact that Keith had just worked out as well.  Maybe he got some kind of post-exercise glow.  But his voice was pleasant to listen to.  Each word came out as though it had a purpose, and Keith seemed like a down-to-earth guy.  Shiro liked that.

   “What do you say, Milo?”

   Milo, Shiro’s new puppy, only gave a sharp bark in response.

   “That’s what I thought.”  Shiro scratched the dog’s head.  “Now I just have you to talk to.  At least you’re a good listener, huh?”

   Milo barked and wagged his tail.

   “Do you think it’s time for Shiro to go looking for love, lil guy?”

   Milo barked again, jumping excitedly.

   “Oh little pupper, you live such a simple easy life.  You don’t have to worry about complicated emotions towards people.  You just have to worry about giving everyone some love when you see them.”

   Milo hopped off Shiro lap and ran to get one of his toys.

   “Wanna play?”  Shiro took the ball Milo had brought over and rolled it down the hallway, Milo chasing after it with great enthusiasm.

   “I don’t know how I feel, Milo.  Do I like him?  …Probably.”  Shiro continued to toss the ball.  “But can I even ask him out?  I barely know him, and he’s Lance’s best friend.  It that allowed?  Dating your friend’s best friend?  Is there some kind of unspoken rule I’ve never heard about?”  Milo just wanted the ball to be tossed again.

   Shiro laughed as he saw how Milo gradually grew more tired.  “Losing energy, buddy?  I feel that.  I’m hungry, too”  Shiro stood up and walked to the kitchen, Milo following close behind.  Shiro threw together a sandwich for himself and dished out Milo’s food.

   “What do you think Keith’s eating?”  Milo did not respond.  “Maybe he likes sandwiches just as much as I do.  But he seems like the kind of guy who would go out of his way to have balanced meals… Maybe I should do that.”   Shiro took a few more bites then abruptly stopped.  “What am I doing?  I’m going to Lance’s!  I’ll eat there!  And I need to leave!”

   Shiro put the remainder of his sandwich in the fridge and ran to change his shirt.

   “What do you think, Milo?  Solid or patterned?”

   Milo barked excitedly and wagged his tail.

   “Solid.  That’s what I was thinking, too.”

   Shiro slipped on the new shirt and then shrugged on his jacket.

   “I’ll be back in a few hours, buddy.  Mr. Porter will be over to check on you.  Behave.”  Milo barked.

   “Good boy.”  Shiro opened the door and left.

><><><

   “Geez, I thought you’d never come.”  Lance opened the door to let Shiro in.

   “I lost track of time.”

   “Yeah, yeah, a likely story.  There are drinks in the kitchen.  We’re all about to eat.”

   Once Shiro walked further into Lance’s apartment, everyone gave him a welcome.

   Shiro smiled and went to get a beverage.  Lance had some dish bubbling in a crock pot that appeared to be something saucy.  Chips, fruits, and vegetables sat in various containers across the rest of the table.  Shiro hadn’t been to Lance’s apartment in a while, but something seemed different.  Shiro didn’t know if it was good or bad, though.  He looked around trying to figure out what could be different.  The fridge was a notepad on it now, and a small whiteboard with something written on across it in blue ink.  The floor was swept.  There were no dirty dishes in the sink, or on the counter.  Matter of fact, everything seemed cleaner and brighter.  The kitchen seemed much more organized and livable.

   Lance walked in to get some more food to put out in the sitting room.

   “Hey Lance, why is your kitchen suddenly… spotless?”

   Lance looked around.  “Keith cleaned it up.”

   “How come?”

   “Having things clean and orderly helps keep him from getting too wrapped up in wondering where things are, or if they’re where they should be.  Lowers his stress levels.  Other rooms are like that now too.  Grab that bowl and bring it out.”

   Shiro grabbed said bowl and brought it to where everyone was sitting.

   “Food time!”  Pidge announced as the food was placed on the table.  “I’m so hungry!”

   “You’re always hungry,”  Hunk said.

   Everyone grabbed a small plate and some chips and vegetables.  Lance took the lid off the pot to reveal a bath of meatballs and bright tomato sauce.

   “You guys better not make a mess,” Lance said.  “The apartment has been freshly cleaned.”

   Everyone dove into the pot, spooning the meatballs and sauce onto buns that they had..

   “So, Keith,” Hunk said once everyone was resettle, “how long have you known Lance?”

   “We met in middle school.  We both had detention and we were the only ones in there that day so we just chatted and became friends.”

   “Detention?”  Pidge’s ears perked up.  “What were you in for?”

   “Lance was late to class too many times, and I think I… talked back to a teacher one too many times.”

   “Damn, Lance.  I didn’t know you were such a bad boy.”

   “I was only in once,” Lance said in his defence.  “Keith was a regular.”

   “What?  Really?”  Hunk asked,

   Keith chuckled.  “I wasn’t exactly the best student.  I got pretty good grades, but I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut.  That, and I got into a few fights.”

   Everyone went quiet, but Hunk broke the silence a moment later.  “Really?”

   “Nothing major.  It happened mostly in high school.  Someone would say something, I’d say something back, they’d get upset and swing so I’d swing back.  I never instigated though.  A handful of times I was able to get out of punishment by claiming my actions were in self defence, though they mostly were not.  Those were good times.”

   “And you became friends with Lance ‘Goody Two-Shoes’ McClain?”

   “Yeah… We were detention mates then we started studying together.  Lance needed it.”

   “I knew what I was doing,” Lance said between bites.  “Just Keith knew it better and it was nice to have someone answer my questions.”

   Pidge furrowed her brow.  “So Keith was smart one?”

   “I suppose you could say that about him.”

   “How did you graduate, or get into college with a record like that?”

   Keith smiled.  “When you’re getting A’s and B’s in honors classes, colleges tend to look past all the violence and poor behavior.  Plus I managed to get by junior and senior year with no offenses that would be a major red flag.”

   “You…”  Pidge looked shocked.  “You were in honors classes?”

   “Yeah, most of my classes were advanced in some way.  I was the black sheep though.  I wore a lot of dark colors and didn’t care too much.  Everyone else dressed nicely every day and stayed up late studying and doing homework.  They took school way too seriously.”

   “And you didn’t?”

   “Not really.  I would study some and do most of the homework but I didn’t find the content overly challenging.  I thought it was a good level for me.  Of course everyone hated me for that because while they were freaking out about a test, I was playing video games or hanging out with my friends at the skate park.  Then the test would come and I’d get one of the highest scores.  I probably would have graduated with a 4.0 if I had done all the work and applied myself more.  Maybe I would have even graduated early.”

   Everyone, except for Lance, just stared at Keith in disbelief.

   Pidge was the first to speak.  “So you’re… a genius?”

   “Oh no, far from it.  I was just good at absorbing the information.”

   “So where did you go to college?”

   “The University of Cambridge.  I only went there because they gave me pretty good scholarship and I thought it would be cool to live in England and visit other places in Europe.”

   Hunk’s eyes widened.  “You moved to here, from Europe!?”

   “Yeah.  The timing was perfect because my visa was going to expire.”

   Shiro finally spoke up.  “What was it like living in England?”

   “It was a good time.  The people were pretty nice and I learned a lot.  The weather was a little bleh, but I did get to go on short trips to places like France and Belgium.  I went to Spain with one of my classes, too.  I had an awesome time.”

   “Wow,” Hunk said, leaning back.  “Here we are all dreaming of one day getting the funds and living somewhere else, or at least moving back home, and spent four years abroad.”

   “Five.  I spent a year after working in Ireland.”

   “Of course you did!”

   “So what made you want to move away?  Or rather go to England?”  Shiro asked.

   “I… I guess…”  Keith thought for a moment.  “I wanted to get some breathing room.  Living here was nice and all, but I got the opportunity to see the world, so I took it.”

   “Didn’t you miss you family?”  Pidge asked.

   Keith’s mouth went dry.  “I… I did some… but… They were fine with me leaving, and I didn’t have much family over here anyways, so I wasn’t leaving too many people behind.  Besides, I met a lot of great people in Europe, so they were like my foreign family.”

   “Yeah,” Lance butted in.  “He even dated a guy from Greece.”

   “Be quiet, Lance.  I don’t know if you could even count that as dating.  We rarely saw each other and dates weren’t even dates.  We were just kinda awkward friends.”

   “What about that guy from Denmark?”

   “Oh, that was dating!  He was a dreamboat!.”

   “Are you two still together?”  Shiro asked.

   “Oh, no.  He was great but… We wanted different things, and he was too clingy.  I needed space, and he didn’t know the definition of the word.”

   They laughed.  Lance was happy Keith was in a good mood.

   “That sounds like the girl you dated last year, Pidge.”  Hunk said, nudging her.

   “Don’t even get me started!  She wasn’t clingy, she was overbearing!”

   They talked for maybe an hour more, talking about subjects varying from school, to relationships, to hobbies.  After eating, they moved to playing Super Mario, which Pidge crushed, Lance claiming he was the true champion.  Everyone was having a good time.  Keith, however, started to not have such a great time.

   “Excuse me for a moment.”  Keith stood up and walked down the hallway.

   “Is everything okay with him?”  Pidge asked Lance.

   “I think so… Let’s get the dessert stuff out.  Keith suggested a sundae bar.”

   “Hell yeah!”

   The four of them stood and walked to the kitchen.  They started pulling out bowls, spoons, toppings, and tubs of ice cream that were much to frozen to scoop.  In the meantime, they cleaned up the dishes and put away the extra food.  Keith, however, did not reappear.

   “I’m just going to make sure Keith’s alright.”

   Lance walked out of the room and down the hallway to Keith’s room.  He knocked on the door and slowly opened it, seeing Keith laying face up on his bed with his legs dangling off.

   “You okay, buddy?  We’re going to have ice cream now.”

   Keith propped himself up and looked at Lance.  “Yeah, I’m good.”

   “Are you sure?  If you need some more alone time, we can wait.”

   “No, I don’t want to hold you all up.”

   “Keith,” Lance blocked Keith’s path through the doorway and Keith tried to leave.  “Don’t worry about us.  Worry about you.  Did something happen?  I’m sorry family was brought up…”

   “No, it’s fine.  I think I’m okay now.  I just…”  Keith took a deep breath.  “I’m getting tired and I was getting anxious and nervous and I didn’t know if it was the people or just it being late.”

   “I know.  We’ll have dessert then I think people will be ready to go home and you can sleep.”

   “I just don’t wanna-”

   “Keith, it’s okay not to feel so hot, even right now.  I’ll try to keep it chill, okay?  We’ll have dessert and I think people will be ready to leave after that.  Not too much longer.”

   “Alright.”

   Keith and Lance made their way back out to where the others were.  They were happy to see that Keith had returned in once piece.  They dished out their ice cream and poured their desired toppings.  Pidge took almost all the peanuts and pecans, Hunk took the fruit, Lance wanted everything chocolate, Shiro doused his ice cream with just about every sauce available, and Keith just wanted the little candies and cookie bits.  Everyone was happy with their ice cream and went back to sit and chat some more, or maybe find a movie to watch.  The night was… kinda young.  In the mix, Shiro and Keith ended up sitting next to each other on the loveseat couch, with Hunk on the couch with Lance and Pidge reclined in a chair.  They laughed and ate, Keith getting a little bit of his energy back.

   “We should listen to some music.  I need some background noise.”  Pidge said out of the blue.

   “What?”  Lance responded, looking up from his ice cream.

   “Don’t you have music?”

   “Yeah, I’ll sync up my phone.  No promises weird music won’t play.”

   Lance did so and the music started to quietly play.  The continued to talk, somehow getting to the topic of Bob Ross and his beautiful voice.

   Keith shivered.  “Why is it so damn cold?”

   “Keith, it’s not cold,”  Lance said.  “You’re cold.”

   “Shut up.  I’m getting a jacket or something.”  Keith stood and walked out of the room.

   “Your music is pretty good, Lance.”  Hunk said.  “I’m impressed.”

   As Hunk said those words, a lone piano started to play from the speaker.

   “What is this?”

   Suddenly Keith came sliding around the corner with a blanket wrapped around him like a cape.  “It’s Bonnie Tyler!  Total Eclipse of the Heart!”

   “Oh yeah,” Lance said, “Keith likes Bonnie Tyler.”

   “I love Bonnie Tyler.  She’s amazing.”  Keith said as he sat back down and covered himself with the blanket.  “I own all of her albums and I even got to go to one of her concerts while I was in Europe.  I love her so much.”

   “I didn’t expect you to be such a lover of 80’s music.”

   “He also likes French disco.”

   “Claude Francois is a god!”

   “Obviously he has the weird taste in music.”

   “You’re one to talk Lance, listening to weird underground hipster music.”

   More insults were thrown, then Pidge wanted to watch Bob Ross because she said her favorite music is “the sweet sound of that man’s voice.”  So they watched Bob Ross bring his nature paintings to life with his smooth, silky voice.  Everyone was quiet, content on watching Mr. Ross give a tree a friend, or a mountain some character.  It was getting to be late in the evening and Shiro noticed Keith starting to drift off to sleep.  His eyes would flutter closed, then his head would fall, bobbing up again to keep himself awake, all while curled under a blanket.  It was cute.  Too cute.  Lance also noticed Keith falling asleep, as well as Shiro noticing Keith falling asleep.  As much as he didn’t want to ruin the moment for Shiro, he knew Keith just needed to go to bed and get some actual rest without waking up with a stiff neck.

   “Well,” Lance began to stand.  “It’s getting pretty late.  I don’t mean to kick you all out, but Keith and I have to go to work tomorrow and we don’t want to be half asleep.  Thanks for coming over.”

   Lance’s words jerked Keith awake, blinking and looking about to take in the situation.  He pushed his blanket aside and stood up to say goodbye.

   “It was great meeting you, Keith.”  Hunk said, going in for a hug.  “You have to tell me more about Europe and what you’re doing at work.”

   Keith returned the hug.  “I will.  It was nice meeting you, too.”

   Pidge got a hug as well and so did Shiro.

   “It was good meeting you, Shiro.”  Keith had to stand on his toes to make the hug not awkward.

   “Y-you as well.”  As Shiro wrapped his arms around Keith, he felt his heart starting to beat more quickly.  “Maybe we’ll see each other again.”

   Keith released from the embrace.  “We probably will,”  Keith said with a warm smile.  Everyone got their shoes and jackets on and gave their final goodbyes.  Lance closed the door and Keith let out a heavy sigh.

   “So tired… I didn’t know how much longer I would last.”

   Lance smiled.  “You did well.  You liked everyone?”

   “Yeah.  Hunk seems really chill.  It was awesome that I could talk about work to someone and they would actually semi understand.  He was funny, too.  So was Pidge.  It kinds baffles he as to how you all became friends, but as long as everyone is happy.”

   Lance waited for Keith to continue but Keith had nothing else to say.  “What about Shiro?”

   “He seems nice.  Quiet though, I thought for sure he would be the one to carry the conversation.  I’m sure he’s a nice guy, too.  He’s really tall as well”

   “He is a nice guy…”

   Keith yawned.  “I want to go to bed.  Oh, the food-”

   “I’ll clean it up.  You go to bed.”

   “Are you sure?”

   “Yeah, get some rest.”

   Keith turned and walked down the hall to go to bed.  Lance walked to the kitchen and started to put the ice cream toppings away.  He began to think as well.

_ Shiro likes Keith, doesn’t he?  I wonder how that will play out…  _

><><><

   Hunk, Pidge and Shiro were walking down the many flights of stairs to get outside.

   “So,” Pidge began, “you liked meeting Keith, Shiro?”

   “Yeah, he seems like a nice guy.”

   “Just a nice guy?”

   Shiro gave Pidge a skeptical look.  “What are you saying, Pidge?”

   “Oh come on, don’t hide.  You like Keith.  You’ve known him for less than twenty-four hours and you already want to get in his pants.”

   Shiro went pale.  “What!?  I do not!”

   “Yes you do.  I saw you at the gym, and here.  Listening to Keith and looking at him with those big, doe eyes and blushing when he was falling asleep beside you.  Hell, you almost passed out when he hugged you.”

   “Even I noticed that,” Hunk said.  “You weren’t exactly subtle.”

   “He’s a nice guy!  I’m sure once I got know him more-”

   “You’d have more of a chance to get the D,”  Pidge said.

   “I’m not just in it to get laid!”

   “So you admit it!?”

   “What? No-”

   “C’mon, Shiro.  You haven’t been yourself since that girl dumped you last June.  At first I thought it was just the breakup but now I think it’s just you being lonely.  You got a dog.”

   “I wanted a dog!”

   “You also wanted someone to talk to and spend the nights with.”

   Shiro took a deep breath.  “Fine, I may like Keith, but it’s not like I can date him.  He’s my friend’s best friend.  Isn’t that off limits or something?”

   Pidge thought.  “Well, Keith just got added to the mix, so I think that he’s fair game.  Maybe just clear it with Lance first.”

   “Like I even have a chance.  Didn’t you hear him?  He went to Cambridge!  He listens to French music!  He’s dated foreign guys!”

   “Oh, I think you’d be surprised.  Maybe you’ll have what it take to sweep Keith off his feet.  And maybe he likes you, too.”

   “I doubt it.”

   “Cheer up, sport.  Hunk and I will work things out.”  

   “Operation S.H.A.R.K. starts now,” Hunk said enthusiastically.

   “Shark?”

   “Shiro Having A Relationship with Keith.”

   Pidge and Hunk high fived.  Shiro just sighed.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked this. I wrote it a while ago? I figured having a meeting would set the scene.
> 
> Sorry if there are spelling or grammatical errors, I only proofread once.
> 
>  
> 
> Comments and kudos are always much appreciated.


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